As you may or may not know, It has had been 5 yrs since I had the opportunity to travel to Turkey to be with the man of my dreams, Mesut. Cancer had entered my life, he had financial difficulties, and so did I. I was finally able to retire from almost 30 yrs of teaching in an elementary school and could finally relax. I was 2 yrs cancer free and best of all, he had 2 wks of vacation time saved up.
March 9 I began my travels to Turkey. I flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Newark, NJ and there I missed my flight to London. I would now be 4 hours later arriving in Istanbul, Turkey. I got to London and was told in 2 different parts of the airport that my things were not packed properly - each person saying something different. I was frustrated when a hair product was thrown away over 1 cm over the size of the allowed bottle size and also in seeing underwear and bras thrown all over in front of everyone. Finally, I was boarded onto the United flight from London to Istanbul. I watched many movies, tried to sleep, watched the online map of our travels over the Atlantic Ocean and Europe, and 4 hours late, I arrived in Istanbul and into the waiting arms of Mesut.
We slept soundly that night as I was exhausted from the trip. The next day, we went to the Istanbul Aquarium. It was rainy and bitterly cold, and I was still very tired, but with frequent stops to watch the fish, or a trip to the cafe for a cup of tea, I made it through the huge aquarium and back to our room.
The next day, in snow and freezing weather, we drove to Canakkale to tour the area of Anzac. We were now on the Aegean Sea and the winds ripped through your ears. I put a shawl over my head to block the wind and looked strangely like an older Turkish woman. We walked a lot and viewed many cemetaries of Australian, New Zealand and Turkish soldiers and felt the futility of most wars. Lives were lost and not much was gained. The battle of Anzac took place in 1915 with soldiers from each side firing at each other from trenches across a road from each other. Finally, despite the orders from both sides to "fight to the death", the soldiers began to help each other.
Our hotel was lovely and served breakfast and dinner free. The people were very friendly but at the beginning of the next day, we were on the road and crossing the Aegean on a car ferry to Troia (Troy) to view the ruins of Troy and to see the wooden horse (from the movie TROY) which carried soldiers into Troy with the help of Helen. It always amazes me seeing things and places that are centuries old and knowing people 2000 yrs prior had lived, loved, and enjoyed life as they knew it. I loved touching the bricks stacked on top of each other for millenia and seeing a ramp leading into the city of Troy still intact.
As we were leaving the Canakkale area, another car decided it needed to be ahead of us and tried to pass us on the right. Needless to say, he did not make it and hit our front end of the car. No one was hurt and there was no damage to the man's car, but there was damage to Mesut's car. We got someone to look at the front bumper and make sure he would not lose his headlight, and off we went to continue our trip to Izmir on the Mediterranean Sea. We arrived in the early afternoon and found a hotel which was glorious. The next day, Mesut's friend, Timor came to meet me and to discuss what would happen with the car. It was decided that when we flew to Cyprus (an added plus to my trip), we would leave the big suitcase in the car, deliver the car to where it would be repaired and we would go off to Cyprus and return to a repaired car.
The next day, Timor came and took the car to the repair shop, we took a cab that night to the airport in Izmir and flew to Cyprus on the Northern Turkish side. Mesut had been unable to get a visa into Greek Cyprus so he could not enter. We took a cab to "downtown central" Nicosia (which was really not the enter... and ate breakfast (Typical Turkish breakfast of eggs, bread, cheeses, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers and tea). We found a hotel but it was not very nice, so we decided to relocate to the actual center of Nicosia North. Our hotel The Grand Royal also housed a casino, where, though the slots were not updated and the way the operated the casino very different from Las Vegas or Atlantic City, I was lucky and won $270.
On Saturday, I was to walk through the border and Passport security area of Turkey and Greece and meet my dear friend of 10 yrs, Anastasia. We had met online on Yahoo 360 and then through Typepad and eventually to Facebook. We have texted, emailed, phoned and written letter/gifts over the years. She helped me realize I was a worthwhile creation of God, worthy of more than I actually thought. She made me want to be a better person, and I have strived to be God's creation...,because of her faith in me and her love and friendship. When we met in Nicosia, we knew each other immediately and conversation was so easy, it was as if we had been friends (sisters) all our lives and we just "picked up where we had left off" last time we had spoken.
She took me to a beautiful beach, MacKenzie Beach, for lunch. I swear I have never seen so many different kinds of fish to sample; wonderful salads, olives, cheeses, spreads, and even french fries. It was a wonderful introduction to Greek Cuisine and I loved it. When we had finished the last of the fish, we drove to the hotel, managed by her husband, Alkis. The Golden Bay Hotel is beautiful!!!! I was so blessed to be on the 4th floor and when I was on the balcony, it overlooked the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. I could see the mountains in the distance, a small town, apartments but the sea was what captured my attention. I took pictures of the mid afternoon sun on the sea, early evening pictures, late at night and early morning pictures to show how the sea changed with the times. The full moon added to its beauty and music of the waves lapping on the shore could have lulled me to sleep on the balcony, if it had been a bit warmer.
At 7:30 that evening, I was able to meet Alkis for the first time when he and Anastasia took me to dinner in the dining room of the hotel. We first met and had a glass of wine in the lounge. We laughed and talked like old friends. After about 30 min, we adjourned to the dining hall where an International Buffet had been prepared. More types of salads than one could image were lain out with breads and spreads and cheeses, lox, olives, etc. We ate bread and salad and drank French white wine which was superb!!!! Next we enjoyed the meats, pastas, soups and veggies from other countries. We drank more wine, ate more bread and the most delicious cheese whose name I cannot remember. It was amazing, You could broil it, grill it, fry it, shred it, chunk it; eat it in salads or soups. I am afraid I was a bit of a pig when it came to this cheese. It had the texture of chicken and was divine to eat.
With more wine (and water), we then approached the dessert part of the dinner. Of course, I had to taste a little of each. One thing I was disappointed with was there was no baklava and I love baklava. The chocolate cake, cheese cakes, mousse, various other cakes and pasteries made up for the baklava. I was sure the bellboy would have to bring a luggage cart to wheel me out of the restaurant. I did manage to carry myself back to the lounge where Alkis and Anastasia enjoyed liquors and I enjoyed a cappucino.
We were as if we were the oldest of friends. Teasing, laughing, talking, taking pictures, and enjoying ourselves beyond belief. About 11, I was back in my room snapping late night pictures. I was wide awake from all the food (though the wine should have put me to sleep) so I watched Grk cartoons, listened to Grk music on the tv and fell asleep while listening. Anastasia was to pick me up at 10, so I arose early so I could get everything repacked into my suitcase.
We traveled to Anastasia's school she is administrator and teacher to Greek students learning British English in order to get into British universities. I enjoyed looking at her students' work, the classroom, her office and the texts she uses to teach. We then went to her flat and enjoyed more conversation and a wonderful cup of aromatic cinnamon/clove tea. From there we travelled to another beach. It had a promonade of palm Trees and many restaurants from just about every culture. Beautiful flowers lined the street across from the Mediterranean Sea. It was an overcast cool day but our spirits were not dampened. We saw a medieval castle complete with a cannon, a mosque, and many Cypriot children and adults out for a Sunday afternoon stroll. I was able to gather shells, stones, and sand (a bit) as I walked and took many pictures of the people on the beach. When I was picked up by Anastasia in her cute little blue car, I was not wanting to leave and I knew time was drawing to an end.
We went back to MacKenzie beach and had Greek Salad, Artisan bread, and delicious souvlaki. I could easily live in Cyprus, and probably lose tons of weight, eating the Mediterranean diet. Completing the meal was a cappucino for me and an expresso for Anastasia. We continued to talk non-stop back to the area where our adventures had begun. We hugged, kissed and exchanged "I love you's" amidst quiet tears, and I walked back to the passport/border control area.
Mesut and I met just outside the border and walked to a small hotel room where we would wait until evening to begin our drive back to the airport. We flew to Izmir about 10 and arrived back about midnight and had to locate his newly repaired car. Once found, we were on our way to Pamukkale.
It took us many hours to drive to Pamukkale and I was asleep when we arrived at a hotel. The Potak Hotel, another 5 star hotel. Three and 1/2 days stay with breakfast and dinner buffets each day was $350. I was amazed!!!! We rested the first day and travelled to a nearby town and walked to the Red Water Fountain. The water was hot and we walked in it and put our hands in it to wash our faces. Small carts had been set up along the area with pashminas, stones, jewelry handmade by the local people. That night in the hotel, there was a belly dancer coming to perform. We watched and laughed a lot as she pulled many men and women onto the stage to "belly dance" with her. It was hilarious to watch these elderly, Japanese or Korean people trying to belly dance. I was glad we were sitting way in the back and there was no chance of being pulled up on stage.
The next morning we got an early start and went to the ruins of Necropolis, a funerary, and Hieropolis, a city which housed Roman people from the 2-3 centuries AD. Again I was enthralled with the knowledge and craftsmanship of ones from so long ago. Looking into empty crypts, looking at the greek writing and the Roman writing etched into the stone was amazing. Of course there were moments of silliness when Mesut had me pose in front of archways or the latrine (still housing flies). There were also moments to ponder, why or how could a sea snail end up on top of a mountain top.
We walked a little further than Hieropolis to Pamukkale only to find the waters had been diverted and no one was allowed to walk through the remaining waters. Mesut was very disappointed by this as the waters are said to have healing powers and are thermal heated in the limestone 'mountains". We sat for a bit to recover from our all day walking. There is a heated pool, a natural pool with artifacts and columns lying on their sides. People were swimming in the pool but we did not. We took a bus back to the beginning of Necropolis, where we had begun and made our way back to the small town outside our hotel.
We had been to a small cafe the day before and enjoyed gozleme (a rolled out dough with goat cheese and mint folded into the dough and browned on a flat stone and turned over with a stick. It is delicious and of course, we had many cups of tea. This day we returned and had more gozleme and tea.
After dinner, we each enjoyed a Turkish bath. I was in heaven. I never thought I could allow another person to bathe me but I must say, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. From this room and wrapped in big thick white turkish robes, we were lead to a room, heated and with a red glow for a Thai massage. Ahhhhhhhhh does not even begin to express the relaxation taking place in that room. We were given facials as well. The smell of rose petals, olive oil, and the warmth of glowing heated rocks was enough to lull you to sleep, until I heard the words whispered in my ear "Madame, massage is finished". I tried to persuade Jasmin to come to America with me but her answer was "I have family".
The next day, Mesut and I travelled to the small town of Pamukkale and found there was another area of the limestone formations that did have water flowing. We climbed up a steep hill, removed our shoes and stepped into the most wonderful heated water. Your feet sank into the ground up limestone which was so soft and silky. The water came up to my knees and was deliciously warm and soothing. The limestone formations were unbelievable. Pamukkale means "Cotton Mountain" and it truly looks like billows of cotton but is hard as rock (which it is) when you touch it. The few of the snow capped mountains in the distance, small villages off to one side, more formations and walls from Hieropolis at the top of the formations was overwhelming. All I could do was pray and thank God for allowing me to see these wondrous things HE created.
I was sunburned when we left and had taken hundreds of pictures of the area. We returned to our room for a nap before dinner and that evening we had another Turkish bath (given by each other) and then onto an anti-stress massage with Jasmin and another lady in the same room as before. She hit spots in my back that hurt so much from all the climbing and the knots seemed to melt away under her fingers. I almost fell asleep that night.
The next day we went into the thermal pool and under a cool water "waterfall" made for within the thermal pool. It was deeper than I am tall, so Mesut carried me around the pool, and had me float on his arms. We stayed there for about an hour and a half, then off to dinner.
We left for Istanbul the next morning. It took almost 12 hours to drive from Pamukkale (in Asia) to Istanbul (in Europe). We crossed the Golden Horn Bridge into Istanbul about midnight and had a terrible time finding a hotel for under $300 a night when we were only going to be in the hotel for about 4 hours. My place was to leave at 7:40 a.m. so there wasn't much time for sleeping. We finally found a hotel where we had stayed 5 yrs prior. It is a nice hotel (without an elevator) and we had 2 flights to climb. We were both in tears knowing this was our last night together. We wept, prayed and finally slept for a very short time.
My trip to Turkey and Cyprus was short lived but wonderful, nonetheless. Time spent with Mesut is never long enough. I am anticipating returning but I do not know when. I hope when I return, it is for longer, maybe without return. I know I cannot do it while my father is living because he needs me here. I do not want to wait a long time, as I am older and have health issues. I want to be alive and well to spend time with my younger man. I would also like to return to Cyprus, hopefully with Mesut this time, and spend time with Alkis and Anastasia. I have made so many new friends while in Turkey and Cyprus. I feel as if this area is part of my life... maybe in a previous life. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to travel to these areas where there is so much Biblical history, so much culture and so many traditions. Now my dreams are coming true. My adventures are not over yet.